Tottenham Hotspur fullback Emerson Royal was interviewed by a couple of outlets in Brazil today, and since he was involved in a shooting last week, that was obviously a subject in those chats.
Speaking to Sportv, the player explained everything that happened, as he was leaving a nightclub at around 2:50AM and a policeman asked to take a picture with him.
After the photo, the officer claimed he’d escort him to the parking lot, which was just across the street.
Emerson Royal was with family and friends, and was approached by an armed criminal who asked for his chain and watch. With relatives threatening to attack the robber, he claimed he’d kill the Tottenham player in case they didn’t back off.
“At that moment, God controlled me in a way… because it felt like nothing was happening. I approached the bandit, saying ‘calm down, calm down, everyone is calm, I’ll give you what you want'”, Royal told Sportv.
“When I give him what he wants, I approach him, because I’d already seen his evil look. I saw that he wasn’t just for the watch.
“When I hand it to him, he walks away and unlocks his gun to shoot me. When he’s about to shoot me, I pushed him, slap the gun and he shoots in the air. He fired. It was at that moment, when I pushed him, that he loses his balance and the cop shoots him. Then when he hits the shot, the rush starts.”
“I say, it’s God at the moment. Because we were in a square, there were 15 people more or less. In a small square. And he starts shooting everywhere and doesn’t hit anyone. He fired 17 or 19 shots, if I’m not mistaken. He had a gun that was a 9mm, if I’m not mistaken, semi-automatic. It’s a weapon that is not normal for a bandit, nor a policeman. Then I understood that it was a moment that could cost me my life, but it served as a lesson for me to be careful in several situations. And I’m calm now.”
The Tottenham player indeed seems very calm about all the situation, smiling as usual, having no problems to talk about the story.
Now he’s certainly being more careful when spending the rest of his holidays in Brazil before returning to London for Spurs’ pre-season.
